Politics

A govt. at breaking point

Inside Politics

By Suranimala 

WHILE negotiations between the government and LTTE to set up a joint mechanism for the post tsunami reconstruction in the north east was delicately poised last week, the....

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> 18th Amendment that turned into a battle against the CJ

> A second tsunami

A govt. at breaking point

Inside Politics

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapakse, Jayantha Dhanapala, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and ArmugamThondaman

By Suranimala  WHILE negotiations between the government and LTTE to set up a joint mechanism for the post tsunami reconstruction in the north east was delicately poised last week, the Tigers sent a warning signal on the vulnerability of the ceasefire agreement itself even as the JVP threatened to rock the ship of state yet again. And then came a bolt from the blue in the form of CWC Leader Armugam Thondaman who in a state of pique informed the government on Thursday, February 24 the CWC would be sitting with the opposition from Friday due to differences of opinion with the UPFA administration. To stress his seriousness, Thondaman also got Muthu Sivalingam and S. Sellasamy to resign from their portfolios.

Mixed signals

Confusion worst confounded was thus the order of the day in government with mixed signals going out to the LTTE and the JVP as well  on issues such as the joint mechanism and the peace process, which as a result were threatening the very survival of the government. At the same time the SLFP grassroots membership added a new dimension to the crisis in government by agitating for the nomination of a presidential candidate from the party. (See Potshots)

If ever there was a recipe for disaster in government, Kumaratunga had it in plentiful and given the resultant confusion, the ship of state was drifting aimlessly in the high seas even as the storm clouds gathered menacingly overhead.

The government desperately in need of donor funding for the tsunami reconstruction effort has been struggling to reach an agreement for the establishment of a joint mechanism with the LTTE, without which the expected funds would not be forthcoming but was also mindful of the political ramifications given the JVP's vehement opposition and it was in trying to balance these contending forces the President came a cropper.

The JVP has also made it clear any joint mechanism with the LTTE would see the party's exit from government.

Originally, following the government sending a proposal to the LTTE  for the establishment of a joint mechanism to handle the post tsunami reconstruction, the Tigers made a counter proposal during talks held between the two peace secretariats at Norwegian Ambassador, Hans Brattskar's residence down Gregory's Road.

Apex body

The LTTE, as exclusively reported in this column, proposed the setting up of a three member apex body comprising one member each from the Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala communities whilst at regional level there was to be a 11 member committee of which six were to be Tamils and three and two Muslims and Sinhalese respectively. The Muslim nominees were to be decided by the representatives of the Muslim community.

The government however was not agreeable to this formula and suggested balanced representation at the regional level so that the LTTE would not have an outright majority. The government position was that there should be five Tamils, three Muslims and two Sinhalese in the regional body with the government having the right to nominate the Muslim representatives.

At the same time, the government wanted the decisions taken at the apex body to be by a majority vote whereas the LTTE insisted on a consensus.

Finally, after further negotiations, it was agreed that decisions of the apex body will be by consensus but if no consensus was possible, it would go to a vote.

And at the regional level too, the LTTE agreed to the five, three and two arrangement where once again the approach was to be one of consensus and issues put to a vote only if no consensus was possible.

Given the importance of the Muslim factor in the east, not to mention the Sinhalese, it was further agreed that in instances where a proposal by a minority in the region which nevertheless was a majority in a given area was made, rejection of it would require a two third majority at the regional and apex levels.

An example would be Kalmunai where the Muslims are a majority although they are a minority in the district and region. In such an instance, a proposal made by the Muslim representatives for reconstruction of Kalmunai can only be rejected by two third of the committee members in the regional and apex bodies voting against it.

All well and good, but the negotiations have now stalled on the thorny issues of the north east merger and the nomination of Muslim members.

On these two issues, the government, given the JVP opposition, is insisting the mechanism should operate separately in the north and in the east without having one mechanism for the north east whilst also insisting on nominating the Muslim representatives to the apex and regional bodies.

The LTTE on the other hand has indicated the north east must have one joint mechanism and the Muslim nominees be made by the representatives of the Muslims as opposed to the government.

The LTTE has also said it is not prepared to compromise any further on the issue.

This would also mean the JVP, JHU and the UNP too wanting a say in the nomination of the Sinhala representative thereby hopelessly outnumbering the government.

No compromise

That the LTTE will not compromise on a unified mechanism for the north east was also made known to Norwegian Special Envoy, Erik Solheim when he met LTTE Political Wing Leader, S.P. Tamilselvan on Tuesday, February 22.

It is at this very meeting Tamilselvan also indicated the LTTE was not prepared to wait indefinitely for the establishment of a mechanism and warned of the ceasefire agreement itself being in jeopardy.

Tamilselvan told Solheim, the Sri Lankan military had formed new para military groups to wage a covert war against the LTTE and unless it is stopped forthwith, the ceasefire agreement would collapse.

He told Solheim the ceasefire agreement was at a critical stage and the murder of Political Wing Leader for Ampari-Batticaloa, Kausalyan was the climax of ceasefire violations by the security forces.

He went on to say the LTTE was committed to the ceasefire agreement and will continue to exercise maximum restraint but added the government was attempting to break their will to be committed to the ceasefire.

"Our patience is being tested," Tamilselvan said, upping the stakes, notwithstanding which the government refused to budge on having separate mechanisms for the north and east.

Hardly had Solheim returned from this not too promising meeting in the Wanni and briefed the government, another flank was opened, this time after Secretary General, Peace Secretariat, Jayantha Dhanapala at a National Peace Council function reiterated the government's commitment to resume talks with the LTTE for the establishment of an interim authority in the north east to meet the humanitarian and development needs of the people.

The government hoped that by making this announcement the LTTE will soften its stance further on the joint mechanism, little realising it was about to open a can of worms.

This announcement drew a sharp response from the JVP with Propaganda Secretary, Wimal Weerawansa threatening to withdraw from the government if there was any move in that direction.

The JVP in fact was highly agitated by Dhanapala's comments made Tuesday, February 22, particularly in view of it being presented as "government position." The JVP within 24 hours informed both Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar and Media Minister, Mangala Samaraweera that as a senior partner of the government, the JVP has not endorsed any such proposal and would oppose it tooth and nail.

And on Thursday, February 24, Weerawansa made the JVP's intentions clear by announcing in parliament the party would withdraw from the government if the proposal is gone through with. The JVP position was reiterated at a hastily summoned press conference the same afternoon by Weerawansa, Nandana Gunatilleke and Tilvin Silva.

Dhanapala's statement

It was on the morning of Wednesday, February 23, that Wimal Weerawansa first got wind of Dhanapala's statement and promptly a call was placed to Media Minister, Mangala Samaraweera to verify the veracity of the report.

Weerawansa told Samaraweera that Dhanapala had made a statement to the effect the government was agreeable to resume talks with the LTTE for the establishment of an interim authority and wanted to know if it was so.

Samaraweera's initial reaction was that it could be a media spin but promised to verify the details and revert.

However, as the day progressed, the situation took a turn for the worse with senior JVPers being inundated with telephone calls querying whether the party had agreed to the resumption of talks for the establishment of an interim authority.

Soon the JVP realised, the statement was attributed to the government which was merely read out by Dhanapala and the party decided drastic action needed to be taken and Weerawansa once again made contact with Mangala Samaraweera.

And after impressing upon Samaraweera the seriousness of the situation, the duo together went and met with Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar hoping some clarification can be made.

But given the bad blood between Kadirgamar and Dhanapala, the former did not want to take the issue head on, stating he knew nothing about the Dhanapala statement.

Perplexed, Weerawansa told the two SLFP ministers, there could be serious consequences for the alliance if a clarification was not made distancing Dhanapala's statement from the government.

But more trouble was in store after the government Information Department later that afternoon issued a statement to mark the third anniversary of the ceasefire agreement wherein, the Dhanapala statement was reiterated as the government position.

The irony was that the LTTE never raised the ISGA issue with Solheim during the talks, instead focusing on the joint mechanism and the ceasefire agreement and in that context, the government going out on a limb to negotiate an interim authority had all concerned, including the Norwegians, perplexed.

Be that as it may, no sooner Weerawansa got wind of this development from a journalist attached to a Sinhala newspaper, he requested a copy be faxed to him and on receipt of it, blew a fuse.

Forcing the JVP out

Calling Samaraweera immediately Weerawansa asked what game the government was playing and whether it was the President's intention to force the JVP out of government.

Lashed out Weerawansa - "The Media Ministry functions under you. How can these media releases be issued without you even knowing it?"

Unable to explain the development, Samaraweera said he knew nothing of it and that it was probably done on the instructions of the President through the secretary to the Ministry.

It is following this development, the JVP summoned a meeting of party seniors and decided it can no longer remain silent on the issue.

The consensus at the meeting was that while statements made by President Chandrika Kumaratunga can be disregarded as views of an individual, it cannot be so ignored when attributed to the government of which the JVP was a major player.

Accordingly, the party instructed Weerawansa to make a statement in parliament challenging the statement made on the interim authority followed by a press conference.

Interestingly, Weerawansa came in for some stick at the JVP meeting after it was pointed out he had failed to keep the SLFP on track despite a policy of appeasement. He was told to therefore make a strong statement to dispel doubts in the minds of the party cadres that he was a puppet of Samaraweera.

Subsequently, the President gave the JVP an appointment to meet her on Monday, February 28, but once again cancelled the meeting the following day, Friday, angered by the public stance the Marxists took on the issue.

And even as the JVP was dropping their bombshell, the government was to receive another body blow, this time from the CWC.

The CWC joined the government on the publicly stated position of working for the betterment of the estate workers but soon found little headway being made in government due to utter confusion with not so much as an appointment possible with the President.

Neither was there delivery on several promises made at the time of the long jump, a bitter experience Thondaman came to share with the Muslim Congress renegades who also made the jump.

And the bolt from the blue came Thursday, February 24, when Estate Infrastructure Development Minister, Muthu Sivalingam called over at Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse's office in parliament seeking a meeting.

Ever ready to oblige, Rajapakse asked Sivalingam what he could do for him and the response, to say the least, shocked the Premier.

"We have decided to quit the government. I have with me the letters of resignation of Mr. Sellasamy and myself. I came to hand it over to you," Sivalingam said.

Asked Rajapakse "Why? What's the problem?"

Replied Sivalingam - "There was a ceremony in Talawakelle yesterday and we were supposed to inaugurate it. We informed the police also that nobody else will be attending it. But Chandrasekeran had come and inaugurated it. Even the police supported him. When our members opposed what was happening, the police arrested them. If we are humiliated in this manner and are not given any dignity as members of the government, we can no longer stay."

CWC grievances

Taken aback, Rajapakse who was sidelined when the CWC was brought into the government, said he should address his grievances to the President and inform her of the party's decision to quit the coalition.

Said Rajapakse - "I am not the one who gave you ministries. It was the President. So you should tell her you are resigning."

It will be recalled, when Thondaman joined the government, in a letter to the President he said the CWC was extending its support because of the faith they have in Kumaratunga and Mangala Samaraweera, a slight not lost on Rajapakse at the time.

Oblivious to that letter, Sivalingam complained he could not so much as obtain an appointment from the President leave alone have the problems of the CWC sorted out but Rajapakse was not impressed.

The Prime Minister told the CWC Minister though it was easy to approach him, they should not place all their problems at his door but should take them to the President.

"I have no powers to deal with such problems," Rajapakse said, upon which Sivalingam leaving the resignation letters on the Premier's table got up to leave.

However, after a moment's pause, the Prime Minister asked him to sit a while and dialled Law and Order Minister, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake. Said Rajapakse to Wickramanayake, "Thondaman and his people have a problem with the police. Can you please speak to Muthu and sort it out?"

On being given the phone, Sivalingam explained the Talawakelle incident to Wickramanayake and said the CWC will be forced to quit the government if the issue was not resolved immediately by withdrawing the police complaint and releasing their members who were in custody.

Free to quit

But Sivalingam was in for a rude surprise when Wickramanayake told him the law must take its course and they were free to quit the government if they so wished. Having said that the Law and Order Minister cut the line.

Shocked, Sivalingam handed over the phone to the Premier stating Wickramanayake asked them to quit the government if the CWC so desired.

Not long after arrived CWC Leader, Armugam Thondaman who too was breathing fire and threatening to quit the government.

And no sooner Thondaman arrived, the Premier summoned IGP Chandra Fernando for a meeting to discuss the issue whilst also placing a call to President Kumaratunga.

IGP Fernando for his part made a few telephone calls and informed the Premier a report would be sent later that evening on the Talawakelle incident after which he said a decision can be taken on how to proceed.

While this meeting was going on the President called on Rajapakse's line and he promptly handed over the telephone to Thondaman and asked him to explain matters, which he proceeded to do.

If Thondaman thought the President would jump at this threat, he was sadly mistaken, and though an appointment was sought to explain matters, Kumaratunga said she was too busy to meet him that day.

Kumaratunga explained she was to meet Erik Solheim that evening and was busy the following day as well but would give him an appointment within the following three days.

By this time Thondaman had already met Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and indicated his decision to sit in the opposition benches from Friday, February 25.

Thus, having spoken to the President, Thondaman told the Premier, there was no reason any longer for them to stay in government and left, leaving the resignation letters of the two ministers on Rajapakse's table.

What the Premier did not know, but of which the President had an intelligence report was the long meeting Thondaman had on Monday, February 21 with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe where the current political developments were discussed.

Troubled waters

A strong believer in astrology, the predictions for March were also of concern to Thondman and he did not hide that fact in discussions with his confidants.

But the Opposition Leader made it clear to his party members Friday, whatever problems the President faced in government, he was not ready to fish in troubled waters and take over government at this juncture.

Jokingly, he told Colombo District MP, G.L. Peiris, "It seems only the UNP is keen on ensuring the JVP does not quit the government and bring it down."

In fact when Norwegian Special Envoy, Erik Solheim met Wickremesinghe, the Opposition Leader asked whether they had any idea why the government issued a statement on the interim authority at this point of time.

"Did the LTTE demand such a statement of goodwill?" Wickremesi-nghe asked and received a response in the negative.

Solheim told Wickremesinghe the subject did not even come up in their discussions and that they had no idea what it was all about.

At this point, Wickremesinghe showed Solheim a copy of the Information Department press release reiterating the government's decision to commence talks with the LTTE for the establishment of an interim authority and the Norwegians could only shake their heads in astonishment.

Thus it is clear, the government is drifting aimlessly with no clear strategy in place and it is a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

18th Amendment that turned into a battle against the CJ

Prof. G. L. Peiris, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Rauf Hakeem and John Seneviratne

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti Our Lobby Correspondent 

As Lord Mansfield had observed, justice should not only be done, it should manifestly be seen to be done. But that would be a utopian dream for a society that has evidenced the abysmal failure in the administration of justice which in effect has caused public confidence to deteriorate in the institutions meting out justice.

It is in this backdrop the 18th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution was taken up for debate - an attempt to increase the number of appeal court judges from 11 to 21 and mechanisms to clear laws delays and urgently clear the backlog.

But cannons boomed early. Thursday morning was heated with JVP Spokesman Wimal Weerawansa in a special statement accusing the government of taking unilateral decisions with regard to the peace process.

Lambasting the govt.

A furious Weerawansa lambasted the government for a statement issued by the Information Department on the third anniversary of the ceasefire agreement which declared the intention to set up an interim authority to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the people of the north and east.

To a shocked House, Weerawansa announced that if talks were resumed on the ISGA proposal, the JVP would unhesitatingly withdraw from the government. Not stopping at that, he alleged that the will of a single party could not prevail in a coalition and that constituent parties were not being consulted on the matter.

While thunderstruck government benches could only sit with gaping mouths, JHU Group Leader, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero also insisted on the announcement of the government's stance on the resumption of peace talks.

His fiery delivery had a terrifying impact on the day's debate which was on the establishment of provincial high courts and strengthening the appellate courts in general.

The debate thus became a more scholastic exercise except on passion.

With the government busier sorting out their survival concerns, highlighting the point that people were fast losing faith in the judiciary was Dr. Rajitha Senaratne who in layman's terms explained the maladies affecting the judiciary and in doing so, he did not even spare the Chief Justice.

In a wide ranging speech that tantamounted to a scathing attack on the Chief Justice, Dr. Senaratne declared that Justice Vigneswaran not only retired prematurely but expressed his disgust over the politicisation of the judiciary when doing so.

The respected judge had stated that impartial judges were excluded when constituting benches and by the composition of benches, litigants were able to predict the determination, an issue Prof. G. L. Peiris earlier in his scholarly precentation also touched upon.

Holding sway, he claimed that the denial of justice leads to the moral degradation of a society and creates criminals. Identifying what ails the Sri Lankan judiciary, he noted that the pinnacle itself was crooked.

"It is a reported fact the Chief Justice had links to the underworld with criminals calling him on the mobile phone. It was also reported that he tried to manipulate the Wellawaya Magistrate to release a police officer that was famous for treasure hunting and was assaulted by furious villagers once. Subsequently he was caught in a compromising position with a young lady lawyer with three policemen on duty confirming the identity of the 'fountain of justice.' The inquiry has mysteriously been swept under the carpet," he alleged.

Politicised judiciary

Dr. Senaratne thundered that a young girl holding hands with a man on the beach amounted to misbehaviour according to law, but the man who heads the judiciary could go well beyond the norms of decency with the authorities maintaining silence.

Adroitly moving to an emotional subject, the former Lands Minister said that political motives were behind the imprisoning of S. B. Dissanayake and wanted to know why he should serve a two year jail term for having spoken his mind when Ravaya Editor, Victor Ivan who published a book on the failure of justice here was not even sued for defamation.

"That would have been like opening a can of worms. That is why there is no action against him. It is self preservation than anything else," sniped Dr. Senaratne while government members listened without a hum of protest.

Making a pertinent point, the Kalutara MP noted that during this regime, an accused has been killed inside court premises, a High Court Judge was gunned down at his home and a court house was bombed killing two people.

Majority sentiment

"That's your track record. Stoning the judiciary will not reduce the esteem of the institution itself. People had a healthy respect for justice and those who administer justice. The great institution has begun to fail the people in the recent past and some judges have failed the judiciary, the people and justice itself," he observed.

Moving on to the recent Bar Association polls, Dr. Senaratne called it a victory of legal practitioners who want the great institutions of justice to be preserved and not sullied by politically motivated lackeys of the powers that be. His speech aimed at the ordinary citizen and devoid of legal jargon was collectively appreciated by opposition benches, with former Justice Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris who intently listened to the speech, giving Dr. Senaratne an affectionate pat on the shoulder.

Following him was SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem who thought it was amusing not to find a single government member opposing Dr. Senaratne.

"There is no reaction to that hard hitting speech. The deafening silence of the government benches itself is an indictment of the judiciary," claimed Hakeem.

His grief was more personal. Calling himself an absolutely aggrieved party, he proposed that some of the original jurisdictions enjoyed by the Supreme Court be transferred to the Appeal Courts to facilitate justice.

"Four of my party members crossed over and when they were expelled by the party, the court held that the party denied them natural justice. I am an aggrieved party. How do we appeal against such determinations and seek reversals. One of the members who crossed over publicly announced that I was also joining them and my rights were also impinged," noted Hakeem.

Strangely, it is at this point that Justice Minister John Seneviratne stood up to request the expunging of Dr. Rajitha Senaratne's lengthy speech, to which Hakeem scoffed that the government was waking up from its slumber only now. "They were silent all the while he made the speech for that was nothing but the truth," noted Hakeem, rubbing salt.

Rushing into the chamber to defend his speech, Dr. Senaratne claimed that he had made similar speeches before in parliament which were not expunged and further noted that it was not his personal opinion but that of the vast majority of Sri Lankans.

"I am an elected MP. I attributed all the allegations made to various newspaper reports. These reports have not been denied. The journalists have not been brought to task. How is it that my freedom of expression is less valued? I quote newspapers and the speech gets expunged because this is the bitter truth. Where is natural justice where my speech is concerned?" demanded Dr. Senaratne.

Speedy justice

Minister Seneviratne however insisted that parliament was guided by Standing Orders and whether previous speeches went unopposed or not was not the issue. His argument was that a judge's conduct according to Section 78 of the Standing Orders could be discussed only by way of a substantive motion. However, the chair refrained from giving an immediate ruling and Hakeem resumed his speech.

He requested that the right of a litigant to invoke reversionary appellate jurisdiction was also important at which point Minister Seneviratne said that Hakeem's proposals were irrelevant at the time of discussing the 18th Amendment.

Strangely, there were no raucous defenders of the judiciary or the Chief Justice himself.

Group Leader, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R. Sampanthan and MP Nadaraja Raviraj both advocated a system of speedy justice and brought out the issue of detainees who are made to suffer in jail for years.

While Sampanthan made general observations about the need for strengthening democratic institutions and particularly the judiciary, Raviraj requested that career judges be given preference now that the number of appeal court judges is to be increased.

"It is their sweat and toil that has strengthened the democratic foundations of this country. The parachuting judges should be kept at bay in the best interests of justice," noted Raviraj.

But the UNP members in contrast were more single minded in their approach to the debate. Except for a few like Prof. G. L. Peiris who dealt with the legal aspects of the proposed amendment to the constitution, most indulged in gleeful CJ bashing and sought to highlight many instances of justice being denied.

Failed system

Earlier during the day, the debate dragged on, on a dull note with no fire-breathing orators giving vent to their feelings. However, the debate was eclipsed by the angry outburst of  Wimal Weerawansa, leaving the House to wonder about the future of the rainbow coalition than strengthening the 1978 Constitution through the proposed amendments.

Presenting the bill, Minister John Seneviratne observed that the backlog of cases  had increased to nearly 20,000 by the end of 1993 and in 2003, the number of civil appeals pending before the Court of Appeal was some 9,399.

Quite rightly, the Minister observed that laws delays have contributed to the erosion of public confidence in the administration of justice, and noted that the healthy respect people had for justice needs to be restored through confidence building measures such as promoting speedy justice.

"It is known that justice delayed is often justice denied. This is an aspect we should address and is also one fundamental reason behind the legislation presented today," noted Seneviratne.

Lauding his effort, Prof. G. L. Peiris said that the UNP unreservedly supported the government on this score. He also said that the creation of five circuits islandwide was salutary, but urged that the appointing authority should be the chairman of the Appeal Courts as the legislation directly had a bearing on the Appeal Courts.

"It deals with appellate jurisdiction and the Supreme Court has nothing to do with this," noted Prof. Peiris, also promoting the appointment of acting judges where the exigencies of the judiciary so required.

"It is one of the greatest traditions we have so far maintained," noted the former law professor who said that it was sad to note a sharp decline in public confidence when it came to the administration of justice.

Referring to Justice Vigneswaran's comments on the judiciary as an institution that has failed the people, he noted that it was sad to hear a senior judge stating that one could predict a determination when the composition of the bench is known.

"If society does not feel a sense of security, then the legal system has failed. These institutions are created for their welfare and betterment and if the institutions and the people who form part of these great institutions cannot give our people the necessary sense of security, then there is something radically wrong with the system," he observed.

Subdued debate

With the debate set for a postponement in order to accommodate more amendments, it was Minister D. M. Jayaratne who proposed that archaic laws that no longer served public purposes should be done away with, whether tradition called for their preservation or not.

Referring to the S. B. Dissanayake case, he noted that the judiciary should have the discretion to deal with issues of defamation and contempt of court. His argument was that members were splitting hairs about a single case which could also amount to interference with the judiciary which earned a resounding no from the opposition benches.

All in all, a debate that was expected to be heated and argumentative was conducted on Thursday in subdued fashion following the great fall out of the JVP with the government, with attention being shifted to inter party battles from the real issues of a nation that seems to be staring at tragedies, natural disasters and  elections.

 A second tsunami

There is obviously no love lost between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Opinion is divided within the red camp about going solo and sticking on. Most reds by now consider it an indignity to stay on while there are those who prefer to stay on and fight, like Spokesman and Parliamentary Group Leader Wimal Weerawansa.

But that was until last Wednesday night when the JVP politburo decided to lodge their strongest protest that had Weerawansa making a special statement in the House on Thursday morn, threatening to pull out of the coalition.

To cap it all, there was the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) pulling out of the government as well. Kumaratunga's choices may be few but undaunted, she is now considering the dissolution of parliament, largely to teach the reds a lesson. Her belief is that they would suffer a humiliating defeat if unsupported by the PA.

But the decision is now making both camps unhappy with members muttering in the lobby that whatever her political reasoning may be, another poll would spell disaster - and would be more like a second tsunami.

House at cross-purposes

The 13th parliament is one that works at cross-purposes. Naturally, the third anniversary of the ceasefire agreement was celebrated in different styles with no two parties celebrating it the same way.

On the one hand, there was the JVP threatening to pull out of the government. On the other, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members were protesting outside the premises demanding the recommencement of peace negotiations - all on the same day, February 24.

On top of that, the CWC too announced its decision to pull out of the government. All in all, it is a parliament that cannot meet eye to eye, be it peace or otherwise.

Preparing for more disasters

Even before the select committee on disaster preparedness, set up only a fortnight ago to prepare this nation for natural disasters could get on its feet, a committee member has tendered his resignation. The member is UNP's Hambantota District Leader, Sajith Premadasa who is replaced by Matara District Leader Mahinda Wijesekera.

But Premadasa's resignation has triggered off much talk among the green members who fear that with the select committee already showing signs of being a big talk shop with officials and politicians bitterly opposing each other at every turn, more resignations would follow.

Defending honour

Chairman, Disaster Preparedness Select Committee, Mahinda Samarasinghe was a worried man last week. He was upset over a news item carried in a state newspaper alleging that he was to join the government as media minister.

Vehemently opposing the mischievous news report, Samarasinghe got caught to cheeky Deputy minister Mahidananda Aluthgamage who offered an explanation - that the said news item could have been the handy work of arch rival Dr. Rajitha Senaratne.

The Chief Opposition Whip who was on his feet, enjoying the task of outlining his many successes and denying a need to crossover, fell for Aluthgamage's line. In a flash, Samarasinghe was seen agreeing with Aluthgamage, much to the glee of the government benches who enjoyed the task of putting one Kalutara member against the other.

A man under fire

JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Wimal Weerawansa is currently a man under fire. Having made a belligerent special statement in parliament threatening to pull out of the coalition if peace talks are resumed based on the ISGA, the man failed to send sufficient photocopies of his prepared speech to the press gallery where media personnel anxiously waited for the text to arrive.

A few copies came and when a scribe phoned to find out what was causing the delay, Weerawansa in his usual pompous style announced that considering the weight of the contents - so important were they - that his speech was not that easily photocopied.

So much for over estimating one's value, even when marching orders have been issued.

Operation 113 again

President Kumaratunga's threat to dissolve parliament has galvanised the government types into action. Worried sick with the CWC's change of heart and the JVP's belligerence, the search is on once more, to dangle some carrots before a few green members with sufficient skeletons in the cupboard and lure them into the government fold.

The reasoning behind Operation 113, the second time over is that following the judgement given in favour of UNP dissident Rohitha Bogollagama, all those who crossover would be safe and their seats would be secure.